Red wine

Penfolds, Bin 98 Quantum Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

RRP £545 per bottle
UK Stockist
Penfolds Bin 98 Quantum
95
Tasted by
Adam Lechmere

There’s 13% Australian Shiraz in the Quantum, the flagship wine of Penfolds’ new California Collection. It reminds me of the ferociously compromising Diamond Creek (the fruit is from Oakville, and 500m up on Diamond Mountain), whose tannins take years to soften. Inky purple colour. The nose is satisfyingly deep and expressive, savoury with perfumed earth and leather. On the palate it’s tight and coiled but so alive, instantly releasing juice, your entire mouth and sinus is stimulated. The tannins intensify as you absorb the acidity. Fruit is blueberry-sweet with sharp graphite but it’s all background at the moment, ready to ripen and burst out as the wine ages. A masterpiece of controlled power and stored energy whose famous terroirs (never mind the Aussie fruit) will reveal themselves more and more as the wine ages. A triumph.

Drinking Window
2028 - 2040
Colour
Red
Wine Style
Still
Alcohol
14.5%
Country
USA
Region
California
Bottle size
75cl
Grape Varieties
Cabernet Sauvignon (87%)
Shiraz (13%)